PS4 sells 1m units in 24 hours

Sony claims the PlayStation 4 sold more than one million units in its first 24 hours since its American release on Friday.

This has certainly been one of the most highly anticipated console launches in history, and if the figures are taken at face value then that anticipation has directly translated into a record-breaking retail debut for Sony's next generation console.

Though the press release suggests all these sales took place over-the counter, the single sentence and quote of the release definitely don't deny that the company could be counting its pre-orders as day-one retail sales.

"PS4 was designed with an unwavering commitment to gamers, and we are thrilled that consumer reaction has been so phenomenal," said Sony Computer Entertainment president and group CEO Andrew House.

"Sales remain very strong in North America, and we expect continued enthusiasm as we launch the PlayStation 4 in Europe and Latin America on November 29. We are extremely grateful for the passion of PlayStation fans and thank them for their continued support."

Even if Sony is counting pre-orders, this is a pretty impressive figure; by comparison global sales for Nintendo's Wii U are up to 3.9 million, and North American sales as of September 30th were 1.75 million.

It will definitely be worth watching to see how the console performs as compared to Microsoft's Xbox One, due to launch on November 22nd.